A standing wave-type noncontact linear ultrasonic motor

In this study, a novel standing wave-type noncontact linear ultrasonic motor is proposed and analyzed. This linear ultrasonic motor uses a properly controlled ultrasonic standing wave to levitate and drive a slider. A prototype of the motor was constructed by using a wedge-shaped aluminum stator, which was placed horizontally and driven by a multilayer PZT vibrator. The levitation and motion of the slider were observed. Assuming that the driving force was generated by the turbulent acoustic streaming in the boundary air layer next to the bottom surface of the slider, a theoretical model was developed. The calculated characteristics of this motor were found to agree quite well with the experimental results. Based on the experimental and theoretical results, guidelines for increasing the displacement and speed of the slider were obtained. It was found that increasing the stator vibration displacement, or decreasing the gradient of the stator vibration velocity and the weight per unit area of the slider, led to an increase of the slider displacement. It was also found that increasing the amplitude and gradient of the stator vibration velocity, or decreasing the weight per unit area of the slider and the driving frequency, gave rise to an increase of the slider speed. There exists an optimum roughness of the bottom surface of the slider at which the slider speed has a maximum     

Bidirectional linear ultrasonic motor using longitudinal vibrating transducers

This paper proposes a bidirectional linear ultrasonic motor using longitudinal vibrating transducer. The fundamental principle of this motor has been demonstrated. A prototype linear motor was fabricated and investigated. Maximum speed of 947mm/s and maximum thrust force of 35N have been achieved. The transducer consists of two Langevin transducers that assemble together with their axes in pi/2 angle. The structure and driving circuit are simple, and the prototype motor shows high-speed and large thrust     

Development of a novel ultrasonic motor resonator using topology optimization

The use of topology optimization in the design of a novel stator for an ultrasonic motor (USM) is investigated. The design challenge is to produce a stator, with two resonant modes whose frequencies are in a ratio of 1:2. When driven together, these modes result in a contact point trajectory in a figure of eight shape. As a result, only one electronic amplifier is required to drive the proposed device. In contrast traditional travelling wave USM, with elliptical contact point trajectories, require two modes with equal resonant frequencies to be driven 90° out of phase, and therefore require two amplifiers, one for each mode. To achieve a suitable stator design, a slightly unconventional topology optimization problem formulation is proposed, in which the objective function is to minimize the amount of material with intermediate density, while satisfying a constraint related to the frequency ratio of selected resonant modes. The planar design produced using the optimization procedure was refined using a detailed three dimensional finite element analysis. A prototype of the proposed stator design was manufactured and experimentally characterized. Scanning laser vibrometry measurements from two positions were used to measure the figure of-eight motion. Finally, the stator was fitted with a preloaded slider to form a simple linear motor demonstrator which was characterized experimentally. The prototype motor produced a slider speed of 14 mm/s reversibly and a maximum force of 50 mN.     

A self-running standing wave-type bidirectional slider for the ultrasonically levitated thin linear stage

A slider for a self-running standing wave-type, ultrasonically levitated, thin linear stage is discussed. The slider can be levitated and moved using acoustic radiation force and acoustic streaming. The slider has a simple configuration and consists of an aluminum vibrating plate and a piezoelectric zirconate titanate (PZT) element. The large asymmetric vibration distribution for the high thrust and levitation performance was obtained by adjusting the configuration determined by finite elemental analysis (FEA). As a preliminary step, the computed results of the sound pressure distribution in the 1-mm air gap by FEA was com pared with experimental results obtained using a fiber optic probe. The direction of the total driving force for the acoustic streaming in the small air gap was estimated by the sound pressure distribution calculated by FEA, and it was found that the direction of the acoustic streaming could be altered by controlling the vibration mode of the slider. The flexural standing wave could be generated along the vibrating plate near the frequencies predicted based on the FEA results. The slider could be levitated by the acoustic radiation force radiated from its own vibrating plate at several frequencies. The slider could be moved in the negative and positive directions at 68 kHz and 69 kHz, which correspond to the results computed by FEA, with the asymmetric vibration distribution of the slider's vibrating plate. Larger thrust could be obtained with the smaller levitation distance, and the maximum thrust was 19 mN.     

An ultrasonically levitated noncontact stage using traveling vibrations on precision ceramic guide rails

This paper presents a noncontact sliding table design and measurements of its performance via ultrasonic levitation. A slider placed atop two vibrating guide rails is levitated by an acoustic radiation force emitted from the rails. A flexural traveling wave propagating along the guide rails allows noncontact transportation of the slider. Permitting a transport mechanism that reduces abrasion and dust generation with an inexpensive and simple structure. The profile of the sliding table was designed using the finite-element analysis (FEA) for high levitation and transportation efficiency. The prototype sliding table was made of alumina ceramic (Al2O3) to increase machining accuracy and rigidity using a structure composed of a pair of guide rails with a triangular cross section and piezoelectric transducers. Two types of transducers were used: bolt-clamped Langevin transducers and bimorph transducers. A 40-mm long slider was designed to fit atop the two rail guides. Flexural standing waves and torsional standing waves were observed along the guide rails at resonance, and the levitation of the slider was obtained using the flexural mode even while the levitation distance was less than 10 microm. The levitation distance of the slider was measured while increasing the slider's weight. The levitation pressure, rigidity, and vertical displacement amplitude of the levitating slider thus were measured to be 6.7 kN/m2, 3.0 kN/microm/m2, and less than 1 microm, respectively. Noncontact transport of the slider was achieved using phased drive of the two transducers at either end of the vibrating guide rail. By controlling the phase difference, the slider transportation direction could be switched, and a maximum thrust of 13 mN was obtained.     

二自由度行波型超声波电机定子的数学模型与实验研究

二自由度行波型超声波电机是一种新型多自由度超声波电机。本文从二自由度行波型超声波电机的驱动机理和基本结构出发,就电机的结构实现、驱动球转子的最佳定子结构进行了分析,利用所建立的有限元模型进行定子振动的模态分析和共振频率计算,提出了外缘大倾角内缘线接触的行波定子。然后建立定子的接触模型,对其机械性能进行分析。测试结果表明,修正的数学模型更加符合电机的实际运行特性。所研制样机的球转子直径为45mm,定子直径为30mm,实现的堵转力矩为120mNm,空转转速12r/min。本文工作为多自由度行波型超声波电机的优化设计、性能提高奠定了基础。     

背衬封装对卧板式直线超声电机输出推力的影响

研究了超声电机的背衬封装与预压力承载能力的关系。以外型尺寸为36mm×5mm×4mm的卧板式直线超声电机为研究对象,建立了电机振动力学模型,针对不同封装方式下的模型进行了分析。通过改进的等效刚度模型,研究了封装夹持对电机刚度参数的影响,得出电机封装与预压力承载能力之间的关系,并通过预压力加载实验测得各自所能承载的最大预压力。当激励信号电压为150Vpp,频率为63kHz时,给电机添加局部背衬的封装方式,使电机能够承受的最大预压力为16N,输出推力比常规封装大两倍以上,证实了背衬式封装能改变力传递路径,能使电机能承受更大预压力。     

Ultrasonic linear motor using surface acoustic waves

The first success in the operation of an ultrasonic linear motor at HF band driving frequency using the Rayleigh wave is described. The substrate material is a 127.8° Y-cut LiNbO₃ wafer whose diameter is three inches. Four interdigital transducers (IDT's) are arranged to excite x- and y-propagation waves in both directions. The dimensions of the IDT are 25 mm aperture size, 400 μm pitch, 100 μm strip width, and 10 pairs. The operation area is about 25 mm square, The driving frequency is about 9.6 MHz in the x direction and about 9.1 MHz in the y direction. The most important point of the success is the shape of the contact surface and slider materials. For the contact materials, small balls about 1 mm in diameter are introduced to obtain sufficient contact pressure around 100 MPa. The use of ruby balls, steel balls, and tungsten carbide balls is investigated. Each slider has three balls to enable stable contact at three points. The maximum transfer speed is about 20 cm/s. The transfer speed is controllable by changing the driving voltage     

微量注射泵用直线超声电机的结构设计

改进了一种螺纹杆直线超声电机,并用于驱动微量注射泵。螺纹杆直线超声电机具有体积小、精度高、推力足、无磁干扰等特点。为了满足微量注射泵推力要求,针对螺纹杆直线超声电机不能施加预压力问题,提出了一种可施加预压力的螺纹杆直线超声电机。该直线超声电机包括底座、柱状定子、分体式螺纹杆动子。动子由动子主轴、套筒、预压力施加装置组成。当预压力调至33.9 N时,电机达到最大堵推力21 N,此时空载最大速度为4.5 mm/s。并设计了一款微量注射泵,该微量注射泵结构简单、抗磁干扰,分辨率达到nl级别,满足各种微量药物注射要求。     

Elastic contact conditions to optimize friction drive of surface acoustic wave motor

The optimum pressing force, namely the preload, for a slider to obtain superior operation conditions in a surface acoustic wave motor have been examined. We used steel balls as sliders. The preload was controlled using a permanent magnet. The steel balls were 0.5, 1, and 2 mm diameter, with the differences in diameter making it possible to change contact conditions, such as the contact pressure, contact area, and deformation of the stator and the slider. The stator transducer was lithium niobate, 128 degrees rotated, y-cut x-propagation substrate. The driving frequency of the Rayleigh wave was about 10 MHz. Hence, the particle vibration amplitude at the surface is as small as 10 nm. For superior friction drive conditions, a high contact pressure was required. For example, in the case of the 1 mm diameter steel ball at the sinusoidal driving voltage of 180 V(peak), the slider speed was 43 cm/sec, the thrust output force was 1 mN, and the acceleration was 23 times as large as the gravitational acceleration at a contact pressure of 390 MPa. From the Hertz theory of contact stress, the contact area radius was only 3 mum. The estimation of the friction drive performance was carried out from the transient traveling distance of the slider in a 3 msec burst drive. As a result, the deformation of the stator and the slider by the preload should be half of the vibration amplitude. This condition was independent of the ball diameter and the vibration amplitude. The output thrust per square millimeter was 50 N, and the maximum speed was 0.7 m/sec. From these results, we conclude that it is possible for the surface acoustic wave motor to have a large output force, high speed, quick response, long traveling distance, and a thin micro linear actuator.     

Nanometer stepping drives of surface acoustic wave motor

High resolution (from nanometer to subnanometer) stepping drives of a surface acoustic wave motor are presented. It was shown that step displacement was easily controlled by adjusting a number of driving waves, using a steel ball slider equipped with permanent magnet for preload. By means of this open loop control, the step displacement was controlled from centimeter-order to submicrometer-order. In this paper, using a silicon slider equipped with a ball bearing linear guide, the stepping motions of a surface acoustic wave motor were investigated. A laser interferometer equipped with a 2-picometer resolution displacement demodulator was introduced. Motions of the slider ranging from several hundreds of nanometers to several nanometers in each step displacement were observed. Reduction of the driving waves down to 25 cycles, under a 100 V/sub peak/ driving voltage and a 30 N preload condition, generated about 2 nm stepping motion using our experimental setup under an open loop condition. We also demonstrated subnanometer step movements. These experimental results indicated that the surface acoustic wave motor has an ability of subnanometer positioning with a centimeter-level stroke.     

An ultrasonic linear motor using ridge-mode traveling waves

A new type of ultrasonic linear motor is presented using traveling waves excited along a ridge atop a substrate. The ridge cross section was designed to permit only the fundamental mode to be excited during operation of the motor, with a Langevin transducer used as the source of vibration in this study. The ridge waveguide was first made of lossy media to avoid reflecting vibration energy back toward the vibration source, forming a traveling wave. A 5-mm-wide, 15-mm-tall rectangular acrylic ridge was used to move a slider placed upon it toward the vibration source, in opposition to the direction of the traveling wave transmitted along the waveguide ridge. Using a low-loss 3 x 6-mm aluminum rectangular ridge combined with a damper clamped onto the far end of the waveguide, similar results were obtained. To obtain bidirectional operation, the damper was replaced with a second Langevin transducer, giving a pair of transducers located perpendicularly to the ends of the ridge and driven with an appropriate phase difference. The moving direction of the slider was reversed by shifting this phase difference by about 180 degrees. With this simple configuration, it may soon be possible to fabricate a linear micromotor system on a silicon substrate or other semiconductor wafer adjacent to other electronic and optoelectronic devices.     

双足型直线超声电机的结构及实验

研制了一种新型直线超声电机，首先对其驱动机理进行探讨，设计电机的具体结构，其次对定子进行频率响应实验，模态实验，实验显示电机可有效激励出所需振型，正反向运动灵活，电机的工作频率42550Hz；最大无负载速度可达76mm／s，最大输出推力2N。     

Simulation of surface acoustic wave motor with spherical slider

The operation of a surface acoustic wave (SAW) motor using spherical-shaped sliders was demonstrated by Kurosawa et al. (1994). It was necessary to modify the previous simulation models for usual ultrasonic motors because of this slider shape and the high frequency vibration. A conventional ultrasonic motor has a flat contact surface slider and a hundredth driving frequency; so, the tangential motion caused by the elasticity of the slider and stator with regard to the spherical slider of the SAW motor requires further investigation. In this paper, a dynamic simulation model for the SAW motor is proposed. From the simulation result, the mechanism of the SAW motor was clarified (i.e., levitation and contact conditions were repeated during the operation). The transient response of the motor speed was simulated. The relationships between frictional factor and time constant and vibration velocity of the stator and the slider speed were understood. The detailed research regarding the elastic deformation caused by preload would be helpful to construct an exact simulation model for the next work.     

Amplitude modulation drive to rectangular-plate linear ultrasonic motors with vibrators dimensions 8 mm x 2.16 mm X 1 mm

In this paper, to exploit the contribution from not only the stators but also from other parts of miniature ultrasonic motors, an amplitude modulation drive is proposed to drive a miniature linear ultrasonic motor consisting of two rectangular piezoelectric ceramic plates. Using finite-element software, the first longitudinal and second lateral-bending frequencies of the vibrator are shown to be very close when its dimensions are 8 mm x 2.16 mm x 1 mm. So one single frequency power should be able to drive the motor. However, in practice the motor is found to be hard to move with a single frequency power because of its small vibration amplitudes and big frequency difference between its longitudinal and bending resonance, which is induced by the boundary condition variation. To drive the motor effectively, an amplitude modulation drive is used by superimposing two signals with nearly the same frequencies, around the resonant frequency of the vibrators of the linear motor. When the amplitude modulation frequency is close to the resonant frequency of the vibrator's surroundings, experimental results show that the linear motor can move back and forward with a maximum thrust force (over 0.016 N) and a maximum velocity (over 50 mm/s).     

Driving mechanism, design, fabrication process, and experiments of a cylindrical ultrasonic linear microactuator

A new type of cylindrical ultrasonic linear microactuator (CULMA) is introduced. The traveling wave generation condition in the stator is presented, which was confirmed using simulation and experimentation. The design and fabrication process to develop the stator is described. The stator was successfully fabricated using metallic glass and a sputtering method, and the vibration of the prototype matched the simulation results. When the driving frequency is at 626 kHz, the traveling wave in the stator was observed. Loaded with a pipe slider, the slider movement was experimentally demonstrated and the motion measured with 26 mm/s in peak speed. This paper presents a traveling wave generation method in a CULMA which would also available in other microactuators or MEMS-scale ones.     

Optimization of a piezoelectric linear motor in terms of the contact parameters

The contact kinetics of piezoelectric linear motors determines the operational characteristics like speed and torque or transmitted mechanical power and efficiency. Piezoelectric linear motors are driven by tangential stress in the interface between tip of shaking beam and slider. A good contact between the tip and slider is necessary for a reliable analysis of the motor, which is needed for the optimization of its performance. The piezoelectric linear motor was fabricated and the characteristics of the motor were investigated by external conditions such as tip shape with different curvatures and contact force between the tip and the slider. It was found in this investigation that the optimal curvature of the tip and the contact force are curvature of 1 and 10, respectively, for the high actuating speed, and curvature of 1 and 40 N, respectively, for the high actuating force. Finally, tip shape has an influence on the characteristics of linear motor.     

A smooth impact rotation motor using a multi-layered torsional piezoelectric actuator

A smooth impact rotation motor was fabricated and successfully operated using a torsional piezo actuator. Yoshida et al. reported a linear type smooth impact motor in 1997. This linear motor demonstrated a high output force and a long stroke. A superior feature of the smooth impact drive is a high positioning resolution compared with an impact drive. The positioning resolution of SIDM (smooth impact drive mechanism) is equal to the piezo displacement. The reported positioning resolution of the linear type was 5 nm. Our rotation motor utilized a torsional actuator containing multi-layered piezoelectric material. The torsional actuator was cylindrical in shape with an outer diameter of 15 mm, an inner diameter of 10 mm, and a length of 11 mm. Torsional vibration performance was measured with a laser Doppler vibrometer. The obtained torsional displacement agreed with the calculated values and was sufficient to drive a rotor. The rotor was operated with a saw-shaped input voltage (180 V; 8 kHz). The revolution direction was reversible. The maximum revolution speed was 27 rpm, and the maximum output torque was 56 gfcm. In general, smooth-impact drives do not show high efficiency; however, the level of efficiency of our results (max., 0.045%) could be increased by improving the contact surface material. In addition, we are studying quantitative consideration, for example, about the optimum pre-load or frictional force.     

大力矩径向驻波型超声波电机有限元分析与实验研究

提出了一种大力矩径向驻波型超声波电机,在实现电机大力矩输出的同时保持结构紧凑的特点。首先设计并分析了电机的结构和工作原理,采用有限元法分析了电机定子的振动特性。接着制作了超声波电机样机,样机直径为32 mm。采用激光测振仪测量了定子的共振频率及径向振动的振幅,测量结果与理论分析结果相吻合。最后,搭建了电机输出特性测试平台,测量了电机在不同电压下的转矩-转速特性。实验测试结果显示,定子工作模态的共振频率为73.3 kHz,当施加的电压幅值为100 V、频率为74 kHz时,电机的空载转速为45 r/min,堵转力矩达到0.41 N·m。与其他同尺寸的超声波电机相比,所提出的径向驻波型超声波电机具有更大的堵转力矩。     

Roll-to-Roll薄膜烫装拉链设备模切机构设计与优化

目的 为Roll-to-Roll薄膜自动烫装拉链设备设计一种模切机构,以实现薄膜模切虚线任务。方法 设计一种由偏心轴滑块机构及可移动切刀机构组成的模切机构,机构由伺服电机驱动。建立模切机构的动力学模型,通过粒子群算法优化机构参数,减小机构往复运动惯性力,从而减小由于惯性力产生的振动,降低伺服电机控制难度;在Adams中优化模切机构,设计减振装置柔性连接滑块与切刀机构,对模切机构的减振性能进行进一步优化。结果 偏心距为7mm、连杆圆心距为82mm时,机构往复运动的惯性力比优化前最大减小了21.47%,偏心轴滑块机构因惯性力产生的振动减小。减振体设计为直径50 mm,高度20 mm的丁腈橡胶块,切刀机构位移变化量为0.41 mm小于0.5 mm,满足设计要求。切刀机构x向加速度变化幅度减小,y向加速度突变消失,振动明显减小。结论 薄膜自动烫装拉链设备模切机构惯性力小,工作稳定可靠,易于伺服电机控制。